Proposed bill: humans, pets buried in single grave

SeattleTimes ^ | January 14, 2009 | Chantal Anderson

[Daffynition]

Forget the notion that dogs are man's best friend. To Sen. Ken Jacobsen no dog could compare to his beloved cat, Sam.

So when the spunky 23-pound family pet died several years ago, Jacobsen was left wondering what to do with him.

"I realized Sam would have wanted to be buried with my remains, right in North Seattle," Jacobsen said Tuesday.

The idea first started as a joke, but when Jacobsen later decided to see if humans and pets could be buried together, he discovered it isn't allowed in cemeteries meant for humans.

This week, the Seattle Democrat known for proposing quirky legislation filed a bill, Senate Bill 5063, that would prevent cemeteries from rejecting animal remains and allow the commingling of human and pet remains.

The legislation only covers dogs and cats — a limitation Jacobsen said he hoped would increase the bill's chances of approval.

State law currently defines a cemetery "as a place used or intended to be used for the placement of human remains" — implying no pets allowed. The only way to be legally buried alongside your four-legged friend is to have your ashes interred in a pet cemetery.

Louis Clarke, owner of Pethaven Cemetery in Kent, thinks the bill is a good idea. The cremated remains of more than 20 people have been buried at his cemetery because the deceased wished to be with their pets.

"Sometimes people ask for their ashes to be mixed in one urn — that's how connected many people feel to their pets," Clarke said.

One gravestone of human and pet remains in the cemetery reads simply, "I loved my pets."

But David Bielski, who owns human and pet cemeteries in Aberdeen, was shocked when he heard about the bill.

[snip]

[Recovering Ex-hippie]

she must love you very much.

[yazoo]

“she must love you very much.”

Particularly when I say “EAT?” or “Walk?”

[GovernmentShrinker]

I doubt that most states prohibit burying pet ashes inside a human’s casket or ash-urn. You can bury a person with any inanimate objects — rosaries, photos, etc.; young children are often buried with a favorite stuffed animal. While I expect most if not all states either prohibit or have tight restrictions on uncremated pets being buried with their humans, I don’t think most pay any attention at all to what’s tucked into a casket, or whether there are more ashes than just the human’s in the urn that’s buried.